Larry Gipson, familiar to so many Grambling fans as PA announcer at Robinson Stadium, has been let go.
He says he met with Grambling athletics director Lin Dawson to discuss past-due wages after the conclusion of the football season, and to ask for a raise … only to be dismissed because the department wanted to “go in another direction.”
Gipson had called games at The Rob — and handled basketball, as well — through the tenures of six GSU athletics directors, including Eddie Robinson, Fred Hobdy, Robert Piper, Al Dennis, Willie Jeffries and Troy Mathieu. He says he has worked for the same amount since arriving in Grambling from Alcorn in 1989.
“GSU people are outraged at the way Mr. Dawson is dismantling what we’ve worked to build over the years,” Gipson said in an e-mailed letter to the University of Louisiana System board, interim Grambling president Frank G. Pogue, school vice president and provost Robert Dixon, and others.
Gipson titled his e-mail: The “De-Grambling-nization”of GSU Athletics.
“What we see in Mr. Dawson’s ‘another direction’ is a downward spiral,” Gipson writes, “and we’d like to reverse that direction.”
It’s going to be a strange experience at Robinson Stadium, come the fall, with Gipson’s voice silenced.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?: Doug Williams, just days after interviewing for the head football coaching job at in-state rival Southern, has been offered a one-year extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His contract as the club’s pro personnel director was set to expire in February.
Williams certainly created some leverage with his trip to Baton Rouge, didn’t he?
Let me correct a couple of things quickly..I never met with Lin Dawson on this matter personally.He held a a staff meeting on this on the morning of 12-18-09.I NEVER asked GSU Athletics for a raise…ever.I merely was seeking to find out when I would be paid for services rendered that had not been compensated up to 12-02-09.This included several basketball games and the football contest on 11-28-09.When I called later on 12-18-09 to inquire as to wheter I would be paid before the close of school for the holidays,I was then told of Mr.Dawson's directions to pay me and then terminate my services.Even after texting Mr.Dawson,I've yet to hear from the current GSU Athletic Director on this matter..he was sent a copy of my communication to Dr.Pogue…There are other unresolved issues….I'm still waiting….